Update to Android 3.2.1
A new Auto Download arrived 11th November 2011 size about 7.5mb.
After install I am now finding that Google Maps Application is crashing or more precisely just disappears. Their have also been some updates to Google Maps as well so it is difficult to determine exactly where the issue is. I think we have to put up with some of these issues as so many improvements are being added to the Android OS that some apps may need tweaking. In general I am very pleased with my Iconia A500 and what it can do.
Having Wi-Fi trouble?
I am having trouble with my Wi-Fi when more than one Network is in range. This seems to have come about since we received the update to Android 3.2 around 22nd September. I had not seen this issue before. I have 2 networks at home both on different Wi-Fi channels.
The symptoms will not connect. Go to settings select Wi-Fi and observe the network display. You may see a connection is made to one network then it is dropped with in a couple of seconds. Then it will try my other network, connect and drop. It will continue in this loop and forever. If I turn off one of the networks it will eventually connect. Sometimes a re-boot and it will connect but usually just loop.
I first noticed this when I went to a blogging event with ‘Problogger’ and 300 people in the room all using the internet provided by the Venue and Mobile Broadband. Everything was fine until a rest break and I and a few others could not get a connection and the looping described above was observed on my Iconia A500.
I then tried my Mobile Broadband Dongle with inbuilt Wi-Fi server. The same looping occurred. Once the session had re-commenced I managed to get a connection with the venue Wi-Fi but not the Mobile Broad Band Wi-Fi.
I have since observed that when ever I am near any other Wi-Fi I sometime have this issue.
I have now opened a ticket with Acer Tech Support. I have also requested that they, Acer issue me with a list of update fixes changes so I can try and help track down what is happening. Is it the Android OS or something in the Acer area or just some of the Applications. Will have to wait and see if I get the information requested.
Oldtimer.
I forgot to say that the latest version showing in my settings is:-
Android Ver No 3.2.1
Kernal Version 2.6.36.3+
Oldtimer.
I’m guesing you’re from US. :o)
I’m living in Spain and bought a A500 for 2-3 months ago. It is still running 3.0.1 and here comes the funny part. It is impossible to upgrade it! And the support keeps telling me that there is a upgrade coming soon.
Their argument: We have already added 3.1 and 3.2 in the dropdown-box on our support site, so rest assured. The upgrade is coming! Nice argument.
Sad. Because I really like the A500 – but I have never ever tried to buy a system that can’t be upgraded and where the company lies to me.
Sorry… I ended up on your site searching for upgrades to A500… :o)
Hi Michael,
I live near Melbourne Australia and have holidayed in Spain & Isles many times.
I can only guess that living in Spain the translation work has to be done before they can release the Updates. I expect Australia uses same as USA and maybe UK. Google may also be in the loop, hence the delays.
My latest post about Wi-Fi issues seems to have been introduced with one of the updates. Likewise Google Maps seemed stable with V3.2 but with V3.2.1 I have had a few crashes that may be related to the Wi-Fi issues. I have just bought a Android Phone with same Wi-Fi issues and that’s Android Gingerbread V2.3. At least we are getting updates on a fairly regular basis and the more users that report faults the quicker we may get fixes.
I can do so many things with mine that I am very pleased and have every confidence that things will only improve.
By the way I paid about $700 5 months ago for the Iconia A500 and my new Phone was $149 and has all the same sensors, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc. as the Iconia. Mind you I need a magnifying glass with the small screen and thinner fingers.
The upgrades are reported automatically when you power up and connect to the Wi-Fi network. make sure you connect to the charger during the upgrade process.
Thanks for commenting, Please comment again when you finally receive your updates so we all can share.
Regards OldTimer.
Hello I just got my a500 I have the 3.2.0 on my tablet in the USA and has not updated to 3.2.1 my buddy has a Asus and has the 3.2.1 and works great sycs Google music gives you newer apps and games to I have them on my ipad2 but this Acer is out of date mapplanet has the new stuff but don’t help with the google music etc. Where can I find the manual update?? Any ideas?
Hi Jeremie,
The updates are automatically picked up when you connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi.
Check that you have registered the Iconia A500 with Acer as this may have some effect to enable your device.
Make sure that you have ‘System Updated’ enabled.
The set for auto update check.
Go to Settings scroll down to last item ‘About Tablet’ then select ‘System Update’ top item on menu. Tick the box and also press ‘check now’.
The V3.2.1 update shows up as a patch size about 7.5mb when you power on if you have System Update enabled.
Mine was set when I first bought the unit and it tried to update in the carpark outside the shop! I had to wait until I could connect the charger as you must not give the OK to update on battery power.
Let us know if the above works, it may be that the USA has not updated yet.
OldTimer
I bought an A500 in the UK about a week ago. updated to 3.2 Very pleased so far. My only gripe is that there is no English (UK) locale, only English (US), so it defaults to mm/dd/yyyy date format at UK keyboard. I have managed to change to the UK keyboard and set the date format as dd/mm/yyyy but the home screen date and widgets still display the mm/dd/yyyy format.
I am told by Acer Tech that this is recognised problem and will be fixed in the next firmware update – whatever that really means!
With reference to release dates , I read elsewhere that the Honeycomb updates get released to Australia first.
Hi Paul,
The firmware updates, update the Operating System of the Iconia. See my comment above for 28th November and check that you have updates enabled. When you power on one day soon it will tell you an update is available follow instructions.
There is an update due any day according to Acer. From what they say updates come from the Android team and not Acer although they may do the distribution after testing. Hope that will give you the UK Local.
I have just checked my unit and it does have a UK local under Settings / Language&Input. Use that along with Date & Time. I am on Android Version 3.2.1 so maybe they have not released that to UK yet. Just make sure you are set up to receive Auto Update Checking and check for Update manually. Always make sure you power the unit from power pack when updating!
My clock on Home screen does read correct as we like things set as in UK but use the US keyboard to get the $ sign.
OldTimer.
Thanks for your input oldtimer. I can confirm my Iconia A500 has only ‘English’ as a language, which is in fact when slected English (United States). I have changed to calendar to start on Monday, set the date format to dd/mm/yy and added English (UK) as an input method and changed the temp units to centigrade. It is as near as I can get to a true English (UK) locale. Annoyingly the date widget still reads mm/dd/yy i.e. ‘Mon, Jan 2’. I guess I’ll have to live with this until Acer release an OTA update, if ever of course.
I wonder if mine had a US firmware image originally, as you say you have a UK locale listed? My build number in the ‘About tablet’ setting screen is Acer_A500_7_006.01_COM_GEN1. What build is yours? Apparently ‘COM’ pertains to the US and I have seen references elswhere to EMEA for Europe and Middle East.
Hi Paul,
Sorry I should have shown that my A500 is showing Build Number Acer_A500_7.011.03_COM_GEN a much later version than you have I think the 7_006 was a typo and should show 7.006.
It would be worth checking what version of Android (3.2.1) & Kernel (2.6.36.3+) the ‘about’ reports. My are in the ( ). The Australian Acer site reports that version 3.0.x 3.1.x and 3.2.x have been used with a patch for Wi-Fi for V 3.1.x go to http://www.acer.com.au/ac/en/AU/content/drivers to see.
I have a feeling just a guess that their are 3 main components to the software/firmware. 1=Acer 2=Android 3=Kernel.
If you have the latest Android & Kernel versions it could be that the Acer update for some reason did not download. I would suggest that if they only update missing is the Acer that you contact support stating the actual version showing on your A500 are such and such.
It would also help if any other UK user could report back there versions.
Another check you could do is to go into a computer store and check another A500 to see the factory versions assuming they have not updated the shop display A500. This would indicate if you have received any updates.
Finally check that your fire wall is not blocking the connection to Acer. I am assuming you are using Wi-Fi to connect. Try update check with firewall disabled or go to a friends house and try there. The Acer UK site reports that Android version 3.2.1 is the latest if you have 3.1 then there is a Wi-Fi patch and and OS patch to match if you have 3.2.1 then these have been incorporated.
Hope this helps.
PS Go here http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/drivers select OS as 3.1 Honeycombe click the orange tab on left and download the ZIP file it contains a PDF file that report the changes and some of the earlier versions of OS.
OldTimer
Thanks. A typo indeed. Here are my numbers:
Android version = 3.2
Kernel version = 2.6.36.3+
Build number = Acer_A500_7.006.01_COM_GEN1
Doing a manual update reports “No update your device is up to date”. It did the earlier updates to 3.1 and then to 3.2 without any issues. As you suggest, I’d be interestewd to hear what other UK owners have, if there’s anyone out there…. The only update on the website is a USB driver. I will email Acer tech support.
My latest update…
Just got the 3.2.1 OTA update here in the UK today. Not found any obvious changes yet, but thankfully I do now get an ‘English (United Kingdom)’ language as well as ‘English (United States)’ and ‘English (Canada)’. My Beautiful Widgets home weather widget does now read ‘Thu, 5 Jan’ rather than ‘Thu, Jan 5’, which pleases my admittedly pedantic self. The ‘normal’ date format is now dd/mm/yy as apposed to mm/dd/yy. My versions are now as follows:
Android version = 3.2.1
Kernel version = 2.6.36.3+
Build number = Acer_A500_7.014.14_COM_GEN1
Interestingly it took two updates to get to this. I didn’t note the interim version numbers. I’ll update this if 3.2.1 breaks anything!
Hi Paul,
Well at last you get to Android 3.2.1. Only 8 weeks behind my update. I also received an update just for the Acer Build arrived today Acer_A500_7.014.03_COM_GEN I notice that yours is Acer_A500_7.014.14_COM_GEN. Maybe the last .14 is country specific if not then you have a later version than me.
I just wish Acer would publish some info on the different versions. I did notice that Acer UK has a PDF in the Zip file with info and if you hover over the menu on Acer Download it give a list of changes from Android 2.2 to 2.3
It’s early day yet but the Acer update 7.014.xx seems to have fixed my Wi-Fi loop issue when more that one network is in range. In fact it seems to connect quicker.
OldTimer
This may be a simple question but how do I close apps that I have opened?
Hi Janet,
Most apps stay loaded in memory but are only active when they are visible. Some apps have an option to close and some will ask ‘do you want to close’ when you tap the <- back icon (bottom left). Finally some apps have settings, this is the 4th icon from bottom left. If you tap this, one of the items on the pop up menu may be 'Exit'. You can also select the tablet settings menu and look for applications, select the application you want then you can close it. In most cases just leave the app in background unless you need to free up some memory. Sometimes it just as easy to do a power off/on. I personally like apps that have a in built 'Exit'. I have a VOIP app that I have to close when I am at home as it conflicts with my home VOIP box. The only way is to go to the Settings - Applications and kill it. I think as the apps mature we will see a more consistent way of closing. There are apps on the Google Market that make it easier to manage the close. Oldtimer.
Have geen using acer iconia a500 for sometime, so far so good, updates are succesfull all the time, now latest update is 3.2.1, so far so good, but the main prob is force closes and most of the time, hanging, lagging and auto restart during video playback or song playback, when i first updated to 3.2.1, it could read my toshiba hard disk, but somehow after the last update it suddenly stops reading my hard disk, any resolution to this prob? Am having a hard time trying to connect it every single nite, it was their then it isn’t…somebody please help.
Hi Alvin,
All I can suggest is that:
1) Check market to see if your video app or in fact any apps have a pending update.
2) Check USB drive to see if you can read it on another device/PC if so then report issue to Acer Support and report back here if they know of the problem.
NOTE:
I have just tried a 250Gig drive on my A500. It did not work. The problem was that the drive did not spin up. How did I fix?
Plug in the USB cable first wait 30 seconds then plug in the power to the drive the drive then spun up (put ear to case so you can hear) and mounted OK! My drive is a Western Digital. I have come across this before where the USB connection needs to be plugged in first. Also some times a drive may take to long to spin up if it has not been used for a while and you need to power cycle a few times until it spins up. The drive will not always spin up if the USB cable is not connected.
Hope this helps. Lets us all know if this fixes your issue.
OldTimer
I have a similar problem with wd 250 gb. Android 3.2.1..
Hi Vladimir,
Some drives need the 5 volts from the USB cable to be connected so as to power up the drives. The USB does not supply the power for the Hard Disk just to the logic to tell it that the device connected is ready. I have a digital TV that can record programs to HD by setting up in advance to record at a specific time. Now you do not want the HD to be running all the time, not until the TV timer turns on the USB 5 volts. So this is handy and not a faulty drive. So simply the USB 5 volts can control the HD.
There are also some USB HD boxes that support USB or Ethernet Lan connections. They will only boot to USB if the USB is connected otherwise they boot up to Ethernet. The only way to switch to USB is to power down and disconnect the Ethernet an plug in USB with computer powered up then turn on the power to the HD or HD & PC, Tablet etc.
Oldtimer.
Hello. I have the exact same issue with Maps disappearing or crashing. I downloaded Google Earth and it freezes. All the other apps seem to be problem free. Very annoying.
Yes Google Maps crashed on me yesterday the first time I had used it since latest update. The GPS had locked and I tapped screen to zoom in and screen went blank. Started up again and stayed running OK. It seems every other Android update the crashes come back. I am sure it will stabilise once we move to Ice Cream Sandwich ICS.
Oldtimer.
I love my A500. I have had no problems with the upgrades. The only problem I have is I think it is killing my wifi. I have several device connected to my wifi and all is fine. But when I connect my A500 after a short time my wifi dies all over my network. Cable connected devices are still fine. I have to reboot my router to get wifi again. I have tried two routers, and it happens with both.
Hi Murph,
All I can suggest is that you may have an application on the A500 that is opening a PORT that is required by one of your PC applications. Look for any applications that use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). CHAT or messenger programs. These may well conflict.
Oldtimer
Hello, I’ve read all the thread of this blog up to the 23rd Jan and I found it very useful. I bought my A500 last year in Dallas just a week after they came out and I’m not that lucky to get the system update. Whenever I tried to download the update, it stops (about 120mb to 170mb). I live in the Philippines and work in Qatar so I tried to download the system update on both localities and they both stops. I’m not sure if I had the power pack was plugged in. To this day my A500 is still with;
Android version: 3.0.1
Kernel version: 2.6.36.3
Build number: Acer_A500_1.141.07_COM_GEN1
My question will be; Is there a way to download the update via PC using LAN (should be faster) and ; are the updates should be in steps as in from 3.0.1 to 3.2 then the next? Thanks.
Hi Louie,
I can not offer much help, it sounds like you are having breaks in the download process due to poor internet connections. I think this is one for Acer Service Support.
Can you go to another place where they have good internet speed and try, make sure you run from power pack or have battery fully charged.
I am not sure if you can go from original to latest version.
I would think that Acer may have a program to connect via USB to PC to do an initial load. I have a small none de-script Android tablet and I can load that via USB it’s a bit difficult to get it to the boot loader. So I expect Acer Service can do this and may be able to send you some tools?
Best of luck
Oldtimer
Thanks a lot! I’m guess I’m in better shape now, having 5 updates since last night with 2 major ones around 387Mb. Plugging the power pack was the answer to all of my frustrations before. I’m currently with;
Android version = 3.2.1
Kernel version = 2.6.36.3+
Build number = Acer_A500_7.014.01_COM_GEN2
and a small update was on the way as I wrote this one. Really appreciated this blog site :). Will visit you from time to time for some tips. Thanks again.
Your welcome Louie, Thanks for providing the feedback it helps others.
Oldtimer
hai,
this link also have the same problem, but I think they got the answer also..
http://androidforums.com/acer-iconia-tab-a500/415241-getting-tired-now-3-2-update.html
Since recent upgrade, Bluetooth keeps dropping. I forced it to forgety my creative wp 300 headset and tried to re-pair them… no dice, it either won’t see it or it says the passkey is incorrect. It is supposed to ask for a passkey which is default 0000. I’m not a happy camper right now, any help is appreciated. :-/
Hi Mike,
You have not mentioned which version you are now using?
Can you connect your headphones to any other device using the passkey 0000 to confirm it’s not the headphones?
Not a bluetooth expert, but I would suggest that you try and change the passkey on the Iconia A500 to say 7777 and then do same on headphones. If that works then you can change the Iconia back to 0000 and the headphones same. If this works then it would suggest that some history in a cache file on the Iconia may have been corrupt or just needed to renew in places unknown.
Oldtimer.